Curry Chicken Salad with Honey Dijon Almonds

Spring means sunshine, sports, and outdoor adventures, which means I always need to have lots of portable snacks handy for the whole family. So I was super excited when Blue Diamond Almonds approached me to join their Blue Diamond Tastemakers group of bloggers. I already love Blue Diamond Almonds – they’re my go-to brand since their almonds come in handy dandy portable canisters. Plus, they are mighty tasty.

Blue Diamond Almonds recently sent me a can of their Honey Dijon Almonds and Honey Roasted Cinnamon Almonds to try out. Honey Dijon? Hmm… I admittedly was slightly skeptical about that one.

The Honey Roasted Cinnamon Almonds I knew I would love, because what baker doesn’t love the honey + cinnamon combo? They are just as delicious as I imagined, and they’re perfect for snacking on-the-go, and while at my desk blogging away! This flavor is super versatile: it’s great to throw into a snack mix with pretzels and small crackers for when a group of neighborhood kids come over, and it’s also just as fantastic to set out with some cheese and olives for when the moms come over.

When I tried the Bold Honey Dijon Blue Diamond Almonds, I was totally caught off guard. I loved it. So much.

Immediately, I thought of trying them in a curry dish. The honey adds just a touch of sweet to complement the subtle tang of the honey dijon mustard flavor of these almonds. I loved just snacking on these on their own as well, but let me tell you: they are DELISH in this curry chicken salad that I made, and I think you’re gonna love it, too!

Curry Chicken Salad with Honey Dijon Almonds

You can use skinless chicken thighs, chicken breasts, or chicken breast tenderloins for this recipe. I used chicken breast tenderloins. While the chicken is roasting in the oven, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

I used a knife to roughly sliver the almonds, but you can also pulse them for just a bit in a food processor if you prefer. I happen to like the shape of slightly slivered almonds in my salads as opposed to chunky chopped almonds. It’s up to you!

You can see the tangy dijon mustard powder in the almonds above. Mmmm. So good.

Mix the almonds with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Then once the chicken is done cooking, slice into bite-size pieces and toss into the dressing mixture until every itty bitty little piece is well coated.

Now, I don’t like my chicken salad to be drenched in any dressing, curry or otherwise, so if you find that the amounts below are too sparse for your chicken salad, feel free to mix in more mustard and mayo.

Note: I normally have a fairly strong dislike of raisins – EXCEPT when they are disguised and hidden (second note: you cannot hide raisins in cookies. Don’t even try that in my presence). The raisins are nicely coated in the curry dressing here, although I did save some almond pieces and raisins to top off each serving at the end, just for presentation.

You know, so you wouldn’t look at this and say “where are the raisins? She said there are raisins in this recipe!”

Serve this curry chicken salad on a bed of lettuce (mine here is on a bed of kale, spinach, and swiss chard), between two slices of your favorite bread as a sandwich, or you can just grab a fork and dig in.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chicken breasts in a large bowl. Generously douse chicken in olive oil, coating all sides, then lay flat in one layer onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle evenly with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon curry powder.

I have that same feeling towards raisins and still may not use them in this recipe, but this recipe sounds amazing, and I really like that it doesn’t use much mayo as I find most curry chicken salad too cloying. I totally would pulse the almonds in a food processor to chop them – not because I don’t like the appearance of sliced almonds, but laziness. :XPech recently posted..A lunch at Glyph Café & Art Space

Pech, the secret for us non-raisin eaters is to use the baby raisins that come in the kid snack pack sizes. They’re perfect: small enough so you don’t take a bite and think “Ack! Raisin!” but just enough to add some sweetness to the dish :)

I love the sound of honey dijon almonds. I can just imagine how delicious they will be with the curry in the chicken salad. Can’t wait to try this one.Christie recently posted..Crab and Mango Salad with Avocado

I love flavored almonds too (especially the wasabi ones, mmmm) but you have to be really careful to not eat too many b/c of the salt content. But this is a great idea to add them to a savory dish like curry salad!Catherine recently posted..Sugar Cookie Paint: The no-frosting way to decorate cookies

Dijon tends to not be a friend to my taste buds, but curry is my absolute BEST friend! I guess I’ll just have to try this recipe out for myself to know for sure how my taste buds will react. By the looks of these photos, it seems like there’s a good chance that its going to be a winner ;) thanks for sharing, cheers!Danielle recently posted..#FridayFavorites